WWE NXT Live Coverage - January 9th, 2024

https://i.imgur.com/A8SBAhJ.jpg


Tony D’Angelo and Stacks defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against OTM

The NXT Tag Team Championship will be on the line when Tony D’Angelo and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo defend their title against the dangerous duo of Bronco Nima and Lucien Price. Joined by SCRYPTS, Nima and Price have quickly made a name for themselves. Their group, collectively known as OTM, earned their NXT Tag Team Title opportunity by defeating Chase U on the Dec. 26 edition of NXT.


:nxt4:

– This week's episode of WWE NXT kicks off on the USA Network with a recap video package for last week's NXT New Year's Evil 2024 special event.

– From there, we get our first look inside the CWC in Orlando as the packed house full of NXT fans chant "NXT! NXT! NXT!" as Vic Joseph and Booker T welcome us to the show.

They then show us footage from "moments ago" of Blair Davenport ambushing and attacking Nikkita Lyons as she arrived to the building with her bags for tonight's show.

As the video wraps up, we immediately see Lyons and Davenport burst through the entrance way with a bunch of referees trying to separate them as Lyons beating Blair down.

Nikkita Lyons vs. Blair Davenport

They get into the ring and the bell immediately sounds as Lyons scoops Davenport up and slams her down. She hits another power spot and then mean-mugs Blair as she waits for her to get up in the corner. She charges at her and blasts her with a flying forearm.

Davenport then begins fighting back as she sends Lyons into the ring post with authority. She follows up with another mean shot into the post and then brings her back in the ring. She climbs to the top-rope and hits a leaping knee onto the leg of Lyons.

The commentators remind us that Lyons just recently returned after getting that knee surgically repaired. Davenport continues to focus her offensive attack on the injured limb of the fan-favorite. She eventually hits a big knockout shot and gets the win via pin fall.

Winner: Blair Davenport

– After the opener wraps up, we head to a commercial break. When we return, we see Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams backstage. Hayes is excited and says he has some good news. Trick says he's not sure he wants to hear it, because Hayes will say it's good but then do something else like last week.

Hayes goes on to apologize for coming out to the ring, he says he just heard Shawn Michaels was bringing back a former world champion and didn't want to leave anything to chance. He says he feels responsible for Trick says he said he would help him.

He then reveals they are the final team in this year's Dusty Classic. Trick isn't happy about that. He says he thinks he should focus on his NXT World Championship opportunity coming up against Ilja Dragunov. Hayes says this will keep him sharp and prepared. He ends up coming around and they're both excited.

NXT Dusty Classic Tournament Match: Gallus vs. Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin

Back inside the CWC, the three-man team of Gallus makes their way out and head down to the ring, as the duo of the three-man squad are ready for our first opening round match in this year's NXT Dusty Classic Tournament. They settle in the ring and their music dies down.

The theme for Baron Corbin hits next and out he comes to the top of the stage. He stops and his music dies down. The theme for Bron Breakker hits next and out comes the former NXT World Champion. The two head to the ring and settle inside and then the bell sounds to get us started.

Kicking things off for their respective teams are Breakker and Coffey. Wolfgang tags in after Coffey doesn't have much luck. Unfortunately, Wolfgang doesn't have much either, as Breakker runs over him with a Steiner-Line clothesline. He lets out some barks and then tags in Corbin for the first time in the bout.

After some more dominant action from the team of Breakker and Corbin, we head into a mid-match commercial break. When we return from the break, we see the Gallus duo fight into the offensive lead for a few minutes.

Corbin starts to fight back and then Breakker gets the hot tag and starts to take everyone out with picture-perfect Spears. Breakker stacks Wolfgang and Coffey and then launches them both overhead with a suplex for a loud "Holy sh*t!" chant that has to be censored off the broadcast on the USA Network.

Breakker and Corbin start to argue after Corbin tags himself in. Breakker hits Wolfgang with a Spear and Corbin hits his End of Days finisher on Coffey. He goes for the cover and gets the three count to pick up the win. Corbin and Breakker shake hands and raise each others hands to celebrate as they advance to the next round of the tourney.

Winners and ADVANCING in the NXT Dusty Classic: Bron Breakker & Baron Corbin

– We shoot to a video package that shows former NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton arriving in a pretty white and pink outfit that you would wear to an awards ceremony or something, to Fallon Henley's ranch. Henley asks if she is going to wear that.

Stratton says just because she's her personal Ranch Hand doesn't mean she can't still look good. Henley says that's fine and then the two walk-and-talk as Henley details some of the chores that Stratton will be doing today, which includes picking up horse crap.

The video package then fades out and wraps up with the text flashing on the screen, "To be continued ..." So we will be checking in with Henley and her personal Ranch Hand Tiffany Stratton a couple more times before tonight's show is said-and-done. We head to another commercial break after this.

– When we return from the break, NXT Women's Champion Lyra Valkyria makes her way out and heads to the ring. She brings up her next title defense, asking who it's going to be against. She said after speaking with Ava Raine, she has an answer.

Next week there will be a 20 Woman Battle Royal with a twist, because when the battle royal comes down to the final four competitors, it becomes a Fatal-4-Way. It is the winner of that Fatal-4-Way that will go on to challenge Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT Vengeance Day 2024.

– Lola Vice and Elektra Lopez then come out and Vice tells Valkyria that she's only standing on her feet right now because she was saved last week. She mentions she still has her contract and reminds her she can cash it in for a title shot at any time she wants.

Valkyria lashes back at Vice, saying she used to be a cage fighter and was expected to come in and take over in NXT. She says that hasn't happened yet and says it's because Vice is too concerned with unnecessary things. She then tells her she's gonna give the fans what they want to see and beat her when they finally meet.

Vice then speaks up and boasts about her Latina Heat. Valkyria says the only Latina Heat she sees is coming from Elektra Lopez. She asks Vice when she plans on breaking it to her best friend Lopez that she doesn't intend to use her contract for a tag title shot.

Valkyria then challenges Vice to cash her contract in for a shot at her right now. She sets her title down and gets ready to fight, but Lopez ends up attacking her.

Vice and Lopez beat Valkyria down in two-on-one fashion until Tatum Paxley hits the ring to make the save for the NXT Women's Champion. She runs off Vice and Lopez and then Paxley and Valkyria stand tall in the ring to end the segment.

– We head backstage and we see Noam Dar and The Meta-Four partying and celebrating their recent actions. Up walks Josh Briggs, who they mock for losing his friends because of them.

Briggs assures them they had nothing to do with he, Brooks Jensen and Fallon Henley all deciding to go their own ways. After some more bickering, Briggs tells them they can handle their beef tonight. He walks off and we head to another commercial break.

– As we settle back in from the break, we see Ava Raine coming out of Shawn Michaels' locker room. She gets confronted by a bunch of people wanting to address their own issues, including the returning NXT North American Champion.

Dragon Lee mentions he has cleared up his visa issues and is back now and ready to defend his title. Up walks Lexis King with a contract that gives himself a shot at the NXT North American Championship. Dragon Lee agrees to sign it and the match is made for tonight.

Ora Mensah vs. Josh Briggs

Back inside the CWC, we see Josh Briggs in the ring awaiting the arrival of his opponent for tonight's match, which was made after his recent interaction backstage with Noan Dar and The Meta-Four.

The theme for The Meta-Four hits and out comes his opponent, Ora Mensah, accompanied by Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend and Noam Dar. The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. We see Briggs taking it to Mensah straight out of the gate.

Mensah eventually slides out to the floor to run away from the onslaught of Briggs, but then as the referee is tied up dealing with The Meta-Four members at ringside, Mensah catches Briggs coming back in the ring and takes over control of the offensive momentum from that point on.

Briggs ends up fighting back into competitive form and ultimately takes back over control of the offense. Once again we see The Meta-Four gang at ringside try and pull some shenanigans, however this time it backfires on them and Briggs finishes Mensah off for the win. After the match we head to another break.

Winner: Josh Briggs

– When we return from the break, we head back to Fallon Henley's ranch, where we check-in with her personal Ranch Hand, former NXT Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton. Stratton looks exhausted and thinks she's done, but finds out that now she has to wash some horses.

She does so and is a dirty mess when she's done. She thinks she's done again, but once more Henley informs her that she has some more to do, as now it is mucking time. She sees a giant pile of horse manure and freaks out as we see another "To be continued ..." graphic.

:nxttag:

NXT World Tag-Team Championship Match: The Family (C) vs. O.T.M.

Now we return back inside the CWC where the theme for the trio known as O.T.M. hits and out comes Bronco Lima, Lucien Price and Scrypts. Lima and Price settle into the ring for their big tag-team title opportunity, which is up next here on NXT on USA.

The theme for the reigning and defending NXT World Tag-Team Champions hits and out comes The Family trio of "Da Don" Tony D'Angelo, Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo and Adriana. They head to the ring to a big pop and settle inside.

From there, we hear the bell to get this title tilt officially off-and-running. We see D'Angelo start off strong, taking it to Nima and then Price, with relative ease in the early goings. He ends up tagging out, and in comes Stacks, who picks up where he left off, taking it to Price.

Price and Nima start to take over, beating Stacks down and utilizing frequent tags to keep a fresh man on the weakened member of The Family at all times. The O.T.M. duo hit a big double team spot to bring Stacks from the ring to the floor the hard way.

On that note, we shift gears and head into a mid-match commercial break as this tag-team title tilt continues. When we return, we see some more back-and-forth action and then all hell breaks loose.

Scrypts tries to interfere on the top-rope, only for Adrianna Rizzo to knock him off. D'Angelo then hits a big spot for the pin fall victory to retain the NXT World Tag-Team Championships.

Winners and STILL NXT World Tag-Team Champions: The Family

– Backstage we see Oba Femi talking about winning the NXT Men's Breakout Tournament for this year. He holds his contract that guarantees him a future opportunity at the NXT title and he says it's only a matter of time before he cashes it in and wins the title.

As he continues talking, up comes Lexis King. He talks about how he's gonna capture the NXT North American Championship tonight and then he's gonna beat whoever else it takes to ensure he is the man to get to the NXT Championship next. He says he's gonna take over Tuesday night's.

Cora Jade vs. Gigi Dolin

We then return back inside the CWC for our next scheduled match of the evening. The theme for Cora Jade hits and out comes "The Resident Mean Girl of NXT" to the ring for advertised one-on-one action against Gigi Dolin.

As she settles in the ring, we head to a quick pre-match commercial break. When we return, we see Gallus flipping out backstage after losing their NXT Dusty Classic Tournament bout earlier tonight. Up walks Ridge Holland, who has some words with the trio, who aren't fond of him.

Back inside the CWC, the theme for Gigi Dolin hits and out she comes with her trademark rose in-hand. She heads to the ring to a decent pop from the Orlando crowd. She settles inside and her theme music dies down.

The bell sounds. Vic Joseph promotes Triple H's give-away on behalf of the Connor's Cure charity where he is auctioning off his personal Royal Rumble ringside seats. Dolin and Jade lock-up and start to get after it with some basic back-and-forth action early on.

In the end, Dolin goes for her finisher but Jade holds onto the ropes. Jade then hits her Jaded DDT for the pin fall victory. After the match, we head to another commercial break.

Winner: Cora Jade

– When we return from the break, we see O.T.M. walking out of the building and into the parking lot. As they get close to their car, they run into a lady who talks about some things they think makes sense. She says let's talk business and off she and Scryps go to do exactly that.

NXT Dusty Classic Tournament Match: Tank Ledger & Hank Walker vs. Axiom & Nathan Frazer

Back inside the CWC, the theme for Tank Ledger and Hank Walker hits and out they come to the ring for our second opening round match in the latest annual NXT Men's Dusty Rhodes Tag-Team Classic Tournament. Their theme dies down and they await the arrival of their opposition.

Now the theme for Axiom hits and out he comes accompanied by Nathan Frazer. The two head to the ring and settle inside. The bell sounds and this one is officially off-and-running. We see Axiom and Frazer hit some exciting fast-paced double-team high spots early on.

Walker and Ledger start to use their size and strength to take over. Now they hit some double-team power moves on Axiom. The masked-man ends up fighting back and knocking one of them out of the ring, allowing himself to make the much-needed tag to Frazer, who comes in and helps take over.

After some more back-and-forth action, we see Frazer and Axiom fire up and connect with some more wild double-team high spots. In the end, Frazer hits a crazy turning splash off the top-rope for the pin fall victory. With the win, Axiom and Nathan Frazer will meet Bron Breakker and Baron Corbin in the semifinals.

Winners and ADVANCING in the NXT Dusty Classic: Axiom & Nathan Frazer

– After the second Dusty Classic bout of the evening, we head to the third and final installment of Tiffany Stratton serving as Fallon Henley's personal Ranch Hand for a day.

We see Stratton dealing with horse crap again, shoveling it and eventually dropping a bunch of it on herself. She freaks out and says she finished all her chores.

Henley goes to say one more thing, but Stratton lashes back and demands that she's done. She goes to stomp off but slips in some horse manure behind her and falls in a horse bath. She kicks her feet and throws a temper tantrum in the bath as Henley laughs.

– After we get a look at the updated brackets for the 2024 NXT Men's Dusty Classic Tournament, we get ready for our final match of the evening, which will feature the NXT North American Championship on-the-line.

:nxtnorth:

NXT North American Championship: Dragon Lee (C) vs. Lexis King

Lexis King makes his way to the ring and settles inside the squared circle for his big title opportunity. The theme for Dragon Lee hits next and out comes the reigning and defending champion to a big pop from the Orlando crowd.

The bell sounds and we're officially off-and-running with this one. Early on we see the fan-favorite masked-man taking it to the newcomer Lexis King with relative ease. King eventually finds his offensive footing and starts to take over control of things as we head into a mid-match commercial break.

When we return from the final commercial break of the evening, we see King still having his way with the NXT North American Champion. Dragon Lee eventually starts to show signs of life and he begins fighting back into competitive form. He hits a big kick that drops King in the corner.

Dragon Lee charges from one side of the ring to the other, blasting King with a massive drop kick as he is slumped over against the turnbuckles. He goes for the cover, but King kicks out. King gets back up and the two begin trading vicious chops back-and-forth.

Lexis King starts to take over again. He blasts Dragon Lee in the back of the head and then slaps on a single-leg submission on the masked fan-favorite. He cranks back on the leg but Dragon Lee eventually makes it to the ropes. He fights back and hits his finisher literally seconds later for an abrupt pin fall victory out of nowhere to retain.

Winner and STILL NXT North American Champion: Dragon Lee

– As it seemed like the show was about to go off the air with Dragon Lee celebrating a hard-fought title defense of his NXT North American Championship, out of nowhere we see NXT Men's Breakout Tournament winner Oba Femi come out with his contract in-hand.

It is announced that Oba Femi is, in fact, cashing in his contract right now and is challenging Dragon Lee on the spot for the NXT North American title. Dragon Lee launches himself onto Femi on the floor to start things off with a bang.

:nxtnorth:

NXT North American Championship: Dragon Lee (C) vs. Oba Femi

With the two in the ring now, the bell sounds to officially get this one off-and-running. Dragon Lee hits a couple more high spots but then Femi takes over and Donkey Kongs the much smaller Lee onto the mat. He hits his finisher a few seconds later and covers him for the win.

Winner and NEW NXT North American Champion: Oba Femi

– We have ourselves a brand new NXT North American Champion. And his name is Oba Femi. The new NXT Superstar has already made a big splash in 2024, winning the NXT Breakout Tournament and cashing in to capture the NXT North American Championship. That's how this week's show goes off the air.